1. Field of Invention
This invention generally relates to athletic shirts, and more specifically to an athletic shirt, with the collar, body, and 3/4 length raglan style short sleeves with wider sleeves and openings at the hems, made of a high-performance fabric, which increases performance and endurance, and a tabbing system which allows the athlete to wear the shirt with the sleeves down or allows the athlete the capability to retract one or both short sleeves up into two distinct positions providing for a greater range of motion and freedom to perform and compete in their sport.
2. Description of Prior Art
Originally, athletes, especially those who play tennis and golf, have had a limited choice of athletic shirts to wear. Often, they have had to choose from sportswear that has been designed more for the general public to wear than for them to wear for their particular sport. In other words, sportswear designers have designed their garments for mass consumption instead of creating shirts for athletes to wear that addressed the specific needs of those competing in a particular sport. Therefore, the result has been that athletes have had to wear ill-fitting moisture absorbing shirts that have been a great hindrance to their comfort and range-of-motion while they have competed.
Tennis players, especially professionals who competed in tournaments, have had to wear shirts that became so heavy-laden with sweat clinging to their bodies that their ability to compete, without being distracted by their shirts, was greatly reduced. Anyone, who has watched professional tennis players in a tournament has noticed how the tennis players are constantly struggling with their sleeves. Most of these players tried to drape the sleeves up over their shoulders to get them out of their way and increase their range-of-motion. Or, they constantly tugged at the shoulder seams, of a sweat-laden shirt, in an attempt to get them up over the shoulders so they can serve the ball without feeling the shirt binding them. And, when receiving serve they have constantly tried to raise both sleeves over their shoulders to regain a range-of-motion that was lost once the shirt became soaked with sweat.
The only alternate tennis players have had is to change shirts when the opportunity presented itself, and due to the fabric used in most of these shirts they became quickly soaked, once again, with perspiration. And, these shirts which had a slow drying-rate, within a few minutes, were no better than the ones they had just taken off.
Golfers have experienced the same problems as tennis players, especially when drying the ball, their shirts became heavily soaked with perspiration and clinged to their arms and shoulders as they swung their club. Golfers constantly have pulled and tugged at their sleeves to regain a range-of-motion that was lost due to an ill-fitting and poorly designed shirt.
Other athletes such as softball players, volleyball players, weight-lifters, have needed a shirt capable of retracting the sleeves up at crucial moments of competition. And, they have had the same experiences of a shirt that became so sweat drenched that it hampered their range-of-motion.
Many tennis and golf facilities require members and guests to wear a collared shirt as a part of their dress-code. Therefore, tank-tops and muscle shirts offered no solution to the problems faced by these athletes.
The invention and patenting of high-performance fabrics, such as Dri-Release..TM.. by Optimer and CoolMax..TM.. by DuPont, which move the moisture away from the skin have only partially solved these problems. Regardless, of the faster drying-rate properties, which is approximately twenty to thirty minutes, and better breathability of these fabrics athletes still had to wear sweat-laden shirts which limited their range-of-motion and freedom to compete at crucial moments. Sportswear designers have failed to recognize that high-performance fabrics alone cannot solve some of the problems these athletes have encountered with their shirts. Sportswear designers simply used these high-performance fabrics to manufacture the same styles of shirts that have been marketed in the past. In most cases, the athlete was through, the match was over, before the shirt, especially the sleeves, had dried. Therefore, athletes have needed a shirt that would provide the effects of high-performance fabrics while at the same time being functional in that they could retract the sleeves and move them up and out of their way.